海底兩萬里 第257期 第20章 托列斯海峽(5)
I had to rest content with the various specimens of fish brought up by our nets. Among others I noted some long-finned albacore, a species in the genus Scomber, as big as tuna, bluish on the flanks, and streaked with crosswise stripes that disappear when the animal dies. These fish followed us in schools and supplied our table with very dainty flesh. We also caught a large number of yellow-green gilthead, half a decimeter long and tasting like dorado, plus some flying gurnards, authentic underwater swallows that, on dark nights, alternately streak air and water with their phosphorescent glimmers. Among mollusks and zoophytes, I found in our trawl's meshes various species of alcyonarian coral, sea urchins, hammer shells, spurred-star shells, wentletrap snails, horn shells, glass snails. The local flora was represented by fine floating algae: sea tangle, and kelp from the genus Macrocystis, saturated with the mucilage their pores perspire, from which I selected a wonderful Nemastoma geliniaroidea, classifying it with the natural curiosities in the museum.
我只能看我們的魚網(wǎng)所打到的各種不同的魚類。我在打到的許多魚類中間，看到了嘉蒙魚，這是跟鯨魚一般大的鰭魚類，兩側(cè)淺藍(lán)色，身上有橫斜的帶紋，魚逐漸長大，帶紋也就隱役不見了；這類魚成群結(jié)隊地陪伴著我們，把特別美味可口的肉供應(yīng)我們。魚網(wǎng)又打到許多青花綢魚，這魚長半分米，味道像海絆鯉。又打到錐角飛魚，這魚是真正的海底飛燕，在黑夜的時候，放出磷光，輪流在空中和水中照耀。我又在魚網(wǎng)眼上得到了屬于軟體類和植蟲類的各種不同的翡翠蟲、海渭、糙魚、馬刺魚、羅盤魚、櫻子魚、硝子魚。魚網(wǎng)打到的植物花草有飄浮的美麗海藻，刀片藻和大囊藻。這種藻身上有從細(xì)孔中分泌出的一種粘液。在這種海藻里面，我又采得一種十分好看的膠質(zhì)海藻，這海藻在博物館中歸人天然珍寶的一類。，走過珊瑚海兩天后，1月4日，我們望見了巴布亞島海岸。這時候，尼摩船長告訴我，他打算經(jīng)托列斯海峽到印度洋去。此外，他什么也不說。尼德·蘭很高興，覺得這條路是漸漸使他跟歐洲海面相接近了。
On January 4, two days after crossing the Coral Sea, we raised the coast of Papua. On this occasion Captain Nemo told me that he intended to reach the Indian Ocean via the Torres Strait. This was the extent of his remarks. Ned saw with pleasure that this course would bring us, once again, closer to European seas.
托列斯海峽之所以被認(rèn)為是很危險的地帶，不僅由于有刺猬一般的暗礁，而且由于住在這一帶海岸的土人。托列斯海峽把巴布亞島（又名新幾內(nèi)亞島），跟新荷蘭島分開了。
